Improvement in lining- bessemer converters



- A. L. HOLLEY..

Making Bessemer Steel.

A Patented June21, 1870.

' anni ilili ALEXANDER L. HOLLEY, or BROOKLYN, -New YORK,

.-.Letters Patent-No. 104,592, dated'fun'e 2l, 1870.

' g IMPROVEMENT -INLININQBESSEMER conveniens.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent an making part oi the' same.

To whom t mag/.concern Be it known that I, ALEXANDERL. HOLLEY, of 4the cltyof Brooklyncounty of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement .1u Lining Bessemer Converters; and Illnereby` declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. i

Bessemer converters are usually lined by taking the converter apart at Va joint near the trunnious, so' that suitable molds can be inserted. Into the 'annular spaces,.(geuerally eight to teninches wide,)I between theseinolds4 andthe interior of the skin of the converter, pulvcrized refractory lining material (generally silicious stone and a littlefclaylis rammed.

The two parts ofthe converter are then` put together again, and the liningthen being glazed .by heat, is ready for use., The lining of the nose f 'the con-v verter is usually made of rire-bricks.

The time occupied in lining a five-ton converter fby the ordinary method is from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, duringwhichtime the 'converter is, of coarse, out of use, and the product of the works is propol-, tionally diminished, and, as linings Ado not usually stand more than two hundred heats, the loss due to lining is considerable. s

My improvement consists chiey in rammiug the lining material into severalfiron shells previously fitted' tothe interior ofthe converter, and then setting these `shells into the converter, so as toformacontinuous lining. I provide duplicate shells, so that, while one s et is'in useanother set is being rammed and dried.' Tlleconverter is thus out of use only while the shells are beingset into' it'aud glazed.

To enable others t0 construct and 'use my invention, I will now more particularly describe it with reference to lthe annexed drawings, in which the same letters refer to like parts.

1 Figure 1 is a vertical sectionof a converter, of which A and B are respectively the-lower and upper portions of the skin.A

C is the trnnnion-rng;

D, a trunnibn;

i E, the tweer-box; and I F Fare tweers. 4 In lining a converter thus constructed, by the ordi- WAnairyinethod, the section A below the joint G would be removed, and theV section B would be turned on the trunnions nose downward, so that bothsections would be accessible fromfthe ,top for the insertion of the molds and of the lining material.

I take the converter apart in thesame or in any suitable place and manner, but instead of ramming the liningdir'ectly against the skin, I setp'reviously rammed shells into the converter.V

These shells are shown atH K L M as set in the converter, and containing their linings I J N O.

In order that the shells may be f irmly heldin place, they may be'laccuratelytted to the interior or to projections upon the interior of the converter skin. I prefer, however, 'to adjust the shells, and to hold 'them iirmly in place, hy means of the set-screws PvP, screwed through the skin of the converter at various places.

On the thickness and size of the shells. In a fivetou converter having shellsl three-eighths of an inch think, two horizontal rows of set-screws,oue and aquarter inch diameter and frorntwo to .three feetV apart for each shell, `will be suiflcient.

The shells are rammed with', the usual refractory lining material in'the following manner:

The shell H, Figure 3, is set over the mold Q, the mold R is inserted into the shell, and the'annular space Sis4 filled'and rammed just as the skin of the converter would be filled and rammed by the usual method of lining, v

Thermold B. is then removed, and the lining in the "shell H is dried by vmeans of anoven, or in'any'suitable mannenwhen it is ready to be` set into the converter. The other shells are lined by the aid of suitablemolds, 'in the same manuel'. j Y

Th'e shell M, fig. 1, may be lined'with rc-brick'just as the vnoseof'` the converter is usually lined.

into a converter when the set already in use shall requireremovaL-I provide at least three sets of shells for a pair of converters, =so that one set may he always lined, or in process of lining,` while the other two sets are in use. l y

These shells maybe removed from or set into the con-verter by any suitable means.. I prefer to use'the cross-beams T, Figure 2;, provided with hooks U, which which are fastened to theexterior of the shell.y

This arrangement occupies Very little space between the shell and the skin of the converter, and it lifts the shell and its lining evenly at four points. It is shown on a larger scale at Figures 4 and 5. To remove a worn lining, I take the converter apart at the'joiut Gr G, as usual. I then remove the lower section ofthe converter, and turnthe upper section nose down.A I then slaek all the set-screws l? l?, when each sectionwith its lining, may be lifted out by the crossfbeams TfTby-meahs of a crane.

'lhe size and position of theset-screws will depend In Order tohave a set of lined shells -ready to put maybe swung under vand caught upon the lugs-V,

Care should be taken in this case to break the glazed surface of the lining with a bar, so that it may be easily fractured at the intersections of the shells.

I prefer, however, in case the lining is very hard, to soften and crack it by throwing water ou it while it is red hot, and then to remove it by wedges or bars, or

in any suitable manner, before taking out the shells.-

The newly-lined shells are thenset into their proper places in the converter, in order. As each one is set it is adj usted and fastened by turning up the set-screws.

A little of fire-clay, or suitable refractory material, should be placed upon the top of the lining of each shell heforethe next shell is set upon it.

After the converter is put together again the joints between the linings of the different shellsshould be inspected from within, and, if they are at all open, they should he closed with plastic or semi-fluid refractory material in the ordinary manner. The converter is then glazed, as usual, when it is ready for-use.

In order to prevent the shells K L from slipping down when the upper section of the converter is turned nose up, and before the bottom section is attached, I prefer, rather than to trust to the set-screws alone, to' add two or more positive fastenings, such as the wedge Y, Iigs. 2 and 6, inserted between a lug, YV, on the shell K, and a lug, X, ou the skin X of the converter. When using duplicate removable converter-bottoms a a, I prefer to mold the lining I, in the lower shell, of

such form as to leave an annular space around the said bottom, this space to be filled by ramming it with the ring of refractory material Z. But the lower part of the liningr I may be molded to suit any other method of setting bottoms.

In order to hold the shells more firmly in their places, the annular spaces between the shells and the skinof the converter may, in some cases, be filled with sand or with any suitable compact material.

-I generally prefer, however, to leave this annular space unfilled, and to make numerousvholes ,in the skin'of the converter through whicllthe shells may be observed, so as to judge of the state of the lining. When thc lining is very thin the shell will become red hot.

In constructing new converters, I sometimes prefer to make the converter a skeleton or frame-work without a continuous skin. The shells then constitute the skin of the converter; v

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

'lhe combination with a Bessemer converter 'of a sectional lining in removable shells, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

A. L. HOLLEY. [1..

Witnesses: l

BARNEY MEE, P. HARRY MITCHELL, 

